Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to seat belts, harnesses, and other restraining devices for infants, toddlers, and small children, and more specifically to a restraint which is adapted to be removably secured to an article of furniture such as a couch, chair or upholstered chair or the like. The restraint generally comprises a belt portion including furniture attachment means thereon. The belt may include a seat portion attached thereto, with the seat portion being removably attachable to the couch or chair.
Alternatively, the seat portion may include a securing device for removably securing the seat portion to a back portion of a couch or upholstered chair. In addition, two sets of straps are provided for surrounding a chair and securing the seat portion to the chair.
Additionally, a sheet of fabric is attached to a rear edge of the child seat. This sheet of fabric is laid under a seat cushion upon which the child seat is placed. The weight of the child and the child seat on the cushion anchor the sheet of material, and therefore the child in place.
An infant, toddler, or small child may be secured to the furniture by means of at least one of the restraints, to prevent the child from crawling and falling from the couch or chair.
Description of the Prior Art
Parents of small children, particularly infants who have progressed to crawling and toddlers just starting to walk, are well aware of the difficulty in keeping track of such children as they begin to explore their surroundings. Not only are there many potentially hazardous areas such children may encounter as they wander through the typical home, but the very act of climbing to or from an article of furniture may result in a fall and injury to the child.
Many parents will place a small child on a sofa, chair, or other furniture, and then become distracted by a visitor, phone call, or other task. Meanwhile, the seated child may attempt to climb down from the couch or other furnishing upon which he or she was placed. While the typical seat of such furniture may only be some eighteen inches or so above the floor, this can be a significant height for a toddler or small child, and such a small child is at risk of potential serious injury from such a fall.
Various restraints exist for infants, toddlers, and small children, ranging from infant seats for automobiles and aircraft, to playpens, to safety straps for use with high chairs, to leashes and harnesses to prevent a child from wandering while the parent or guardian is walking with the child. Yet, no suitable restraint has yet been devised to secure a toddler or small child to an existing article of furniture. Accordingly, a need will be seen for a restraint which may be removably secured to upholstered furnishing without damage thereto. The restraint comprises at least a belt which may be removably secured to an article of furniture, and may include a seat bottom and back portion as well, which may be enclosed in a washable cover, if desired. It should be noted that the present restraint is not adapted to absorb large forces, as might be encountered in a vehicle accident, but the attachment means (pins and/or ties) serve well to secure the restraint adequately to upholstered or other furniture in the home. A discussion of the prior art of which the present inventor is aware, and its differences from the present invention, is provided below.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,373,200 issued on Mar. 29, 1921 to Olaf K. Pacht describes a Seat formed of a single sheet of "stiff fibrous material" (p. 1, 1.67) which is adapted to be secured removably to a vehicle seat and to move unitarily with vehicle motion, rather than having a separate seat bottom and seat back, as in a conventional automobile seat. Straps are used to secure the device between the automobile seat bottom and seat back, and a supplemental retaining flap secures the upper edge of the seat back portion to the vehicle seat back. No restraining strap is disclosed for a person seated thereon, as provided by the present seating restraint, and the stiff material used is unlike the resilient foam or other upholstered material used for the seat bottom and back portions of the present seating restraint.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,851,084 issued on Sep. 9, 1958 to Louis Benjetsky describes a Child's Demountable Auto Seat comprising a unitary seat bottom and seat back formed of rigid and inflexible material, unlike the present seat restraint. The Benjetsky seat cannot be folded, as provided by the present seat. Benjetsky provides additional restrain bars and a chest strap, as well as rigid seat back attachment hooks, all of which are beyond the scope of the present invention, which is adapted only to secure a toddler or small child to a stationary seat in a residence or other fixed structure. Benjetsky must provide a seat which is much stronger structurally, in order to withstand acceleration forces which may be encountered in a collision. The present seating restraint is not adapted for use in automobiles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,474 issued on Nov. 25, 1980 to Linda H. Rosenberg describes a Harness For Retaining A Baby In A Chair, comprising a back portion with an upper pocket adapted to fit over the back of a chair. This arrangement precludes use of the harness on a wider chair, couch, sofa, or the like, as provided by the present seating restraint. The relatively narrow strap which passes beneath the baby and between the legs provides little support for the child, and serves merely as a means of connecting a tie to the device. The tie must be secured behind the chair, rather than at the front of the child, as provided by the present invention. Also, Rosenberg fails to provide any means of attaching the lower portion of her harness to the chair, whereas the present seating restraint secures at the lower back portion thereof or at the juncture of the seat bottom and seat back portions, to better centralize the attachment forces.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,588 issued on Jul. 26, 1988 to Monte J. Husnik describes a Seat Belt Training Cushion comprising seat bottom and back portions hinged together. The description of a hinge to secure the two portions together implies the use of rigid materials therefor, unlike the flexible, resilient materials of the present seating. Moreover, Husnik requires use of an existing automobile seat belt assembly to secure the child within his device, as the two arms provided by Husnik are not adapted to restrain the child within the seat, but only to camouflage the automobile belts. Husnik must rely upon the existing automotive belts to secure his device, as he does not provide attachment means.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,874,203 issued on Oct. 17, 1989 to Alvera S. Henley describes a Vehicle Passenger Seat For Handicapped Persons, comprising a rigid structure including a tubular frame and/or rigid sheet metal structure, unlike the foldable, resilient material of the present seating restraint. The Henley seat includes a foot rest in all embodiments, as well as arm rests in at least some embodiments. The device requires a separate anchor in the floor of the vehicle, behind the seat, for attachment of the Henley seat in the vehicle. The present seating restraint requires no additional components secured either to the seating or to the adjacent structure, as required by Henley. Again, the present seating restraint is not adapted for use in an automobile, and thus is considerably lighter and more compact than Henley device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,121 issued on Oct. 11, 1994 to Rita J. Allum describes a Support And Restraint Device For Small Child, comprising a pair of foam cushions removably enclosed in adjoining fabric pockets forming separate seat bottom and seat back portions. Two straps are provided to secure the back portion to a chair. A restraining belt and crotch strap are provided to removably secure a small child to the device, but Allum attaches the crotch strap to the upper surface of the seat cushion or lower belt, rather than to the underside for greater comfort, as in the present invention. The Allum device is unsuited for use on wide and/or upholstered furniture, due to the relatively short attachment straps and lack of provision of pins or the like to secure to an upholstered article, as provided by the present seating restraint.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,860 issued on Mar. 19, 1996 to Raymond Smith et al. describes a Collapsible Child Seat having a sleeve secured to the seat back portion, which passes over the back of a chair or other seat to support the device. The seat bottom is suspended from the seat back sleeve portion by a belt which passes beneath the seat bottom. The seat bottom is thus formed of a rigid material, in order to provide such suspension above the supporting chair by the belt from the seat back sleeve. The present seating restraint is adapted to be placed directly upon a chair, couch, sofa, or similar upholstered furniture which may provide sufficient length for seating more than one person. The Smith et al device is not adapted for such use, as the size of the seat back sleeve would prove impractical for attachment to such larger articles of furniture.
British Patent Publication No. 815,007 published on Jun. 17, 1959 to Norman Hartell describes Improvements In Or Relating To Seats For Infants, comprising a rigid tubular frame with laterally adjustable attachment hooks thereon. The frame includes a foot rest, unlike the present seating restraint. Such a depending foot rest would preclude the resting of the bottom portion of the frame and its associated seat bottom directly upon the underlying seat or chair surface, as provided by the present seating restraint. The seat back and bottom portions are apparently formed of hard and rigid sheets of material, as they are described as being padded. It would appear that no such padding would be required for resilient materials.
Finally, British Patent Publication No. 1,176,417 published on Jan. 1, 1970 to Wardour Imports Ltd. describes Improvements In And Relating To Infant Chairs, comprising a steel tube frame having hard plastic seat bottom and seat back panels removably clipped thereto. One embodiment includes a pair of upwardly and rearwardly disposed hooks and is adapted to be supported from a chair back or the like, similarly to other devices discussed above. The use of hooks for support of the device would require at least a rigid frame, if not a rigid seating surface, as the device would be suspended above the seating surface of the supporting chair if the supporting chair has a higher back. No other means is provided to secure the device to a supporting chair or other structure.